Recirculating air heater



Feb. 3, 1931. J. H. HOLTON RECIRCULATING AIR HEATER Filed June 1, 1929 2Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. MZl/Jl? A. Haifa/2,

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lil'il'ilillllilll A TTORNEY Feb..3, 1931. JQH. HOLTON RECIRCULATING AIRHEATER Filed June 1, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. (/0/727 /9 7/0]10/2 ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT oar-Ice JOHN H.HOLTON, OF NOBBISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS,TO mm CORPORATION, OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWAREB-EOIBGULATING AIB, HEATER Application filed June 1, 1929. Serial No.387,821.

The present invention relates to heaters and more particularly to a unitfor circulatome of the obJects of the heating and recirculating air.

resent invention are to rovide an improve air heater; to

'rovide a eater wherein provision is made or the circulation andrecirculatlon of air through the heater; to provide a heater con.-

struction which permits economy of manufacture, standardization ofequipment, and

- heater construction wherein repairs and replacements can be readilymade without disassemblin the air ducts and external connections; an toprovide other improvements as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 represents a perspective of a heatereinbodymg one form of the present invention; Flg. 2 represents anenlarged side elevation of the top portion of the heater partiallybroken away to show the interior assembly; Fig. 3 represents aperspective of the fan ends of a heater assembly removed from the floormountin Fig. 4 represents a section on line 4-4 of 1g. 2; Fig. 5represents a front elevation of a heater embog ying a modified form ofthe invention; and ig. 6 represents a side elevation of the heater ofFig. 5 partly broken away to show the interior assembly.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, oneform of the pres: ent invention is shown embodying a floor mountedheater unit consisting generally of a casin 10, a heater 11, and a fanassembly 12. he casinglO is constructed, in the present instance, as arectangular duct provided with a horizontal inlet 13 at the bot-- tomportion and a vertical outlet 1 1 at the top portion thereof, the casing10 at all other points being closed in order to provide a throughpassage for air. The vertical corner frames of the casing .10 areextended below the inlet 13 as legs .15 and hence air has unrestrictedaccess to the inlet 13. I

As a. means for heating the air which passes through the duct formed bythe casing 10, the heater 11 is provided and preferab is made up as acomplete whole arranged to e attached to the casing but readilyremovable therefrom should occasion warrant.

The heater 11 consists of a novel coil structure including a lurality ofvertically disposed tubes 16 o the finned heat radiatin type, which, inthis instance, are each close at the top and attached to andcommunicating with a common header 17. At a convenient and suitableplace the header 17 opens into a fitting 18 which has a supply pipe 20,leading to a source of steam, and a return pipe 21 for the water ofcondensation.

11 order toprevent air from bein trapped in the upper closed ends of thetu cs 16, a.

vent tube 22 extends upwardly in each of the tubes 16 and terminates inclose proximity to the closed end of these tubes 16 inan open end forentrance of air. The lower ends of the vent 'tubes 22 are attached toand communicate with a pipe 23 which extends longitudinally of andwithin the header 17 but projects at one end thereof to enter anexterior water seal chamber 24. An air vent pipe 25 provides for theescape of air from the pipe 23 while a thermostatically controlled valve26 closes oil the pipe 25 in case steam finds its way thereto. Theonlycommunication between the ipe 23 and the header 17 is an indirectone y way of a ipe 27 extendin from the header 17 to the c amber 24 fort e-purpose of ensuring the main- When placed in the casing 10, theheater 11 is located with one open side parallel to and in closeproximity to the outlet 14. This brings the body of the heater entirelywithin 5 the casing and in consequence its weight is between the frontaud'back of the casing 10 so that the center of gravity of the entireheater is such as to maintain stable equilibrium. Also when assembledthe supply pipe and return pipe 21 lead out to the respectiveconnections, and the water seal chamber 24 has its vent pipe 25 openingto the atmosphere.

For the purpose of circulating air throu h the casing 10 from the inlet13, throu h t e heater 11, and out of the outlet 14, a %an of proper caacity is driven by a motor 31 mounted on racket arms 32. The position ofthe fan 30 is parallel and in close proximity to the side of the heaterand the arran ement is such that the compact assembly of t e fan, motorand heater leaves a relatively large chamber between the fan and therear wall of the casing so that a free and full supply of air can bedrawn up and laterally directed through the heater and outlet 14.

For. controlling the direction of the stream of heated air leaving theoutlet 14, a plurality of deflectors 33 are pivoted to the casing 10 oneabove the other in parallel relation and all preferably of like contourto provide a plurality of passa s 34 which can e changed as to directiony swinging the deflectors either up or down to give the desired streamflow. In order that access can he had to the heater coils and the fanassembly whenever necessary, one side of the top portion of the casing10 is cut away to form an opening which is closed by a door 35 of aremovable type arranged to be locked in place by cam latches 36.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings another embodiment of the invention isshown wherein a casing 40 similar to the casing 10 except as to size isprovided and for use where gieatet'. capacity is required. In this formt e heater unit consists of a plurality of pipe coils 41, each of returnbend construction and having ends terminatin respectively in two headers42 and 43, the former having a steam sulpply inlet 44, and the latter areturn out et 45. The two headers 42 and 43 are formed as a part of thesame end closure for the open side of the skeleton frame 46 which boundsthe coils at top, bottom and one end while leaving the two sides openfor the passage of air. The number of rows of coils to 41 depends uponconditions to be met. The

fan assembly 47 of this form of the invention consists of two fans 48and 49 arranged side by side to blow air through the heater coils andmaintain the desired circulation through the casing 40. Motors 50 and51,

respectively, operate the fans 48 and 49 and are mounted on hanger arms52 from the frame of the heater and hence can be removed with the heateras one unit entirely separable from the casing 40. Doors 53 and 54 areprovided at opposite sides of the casing 40 to respectivel permit accessto the ends of the heater an fan assembly.

The outlet from the casing 40 in this instance is covered by a screen 55as a protec-" tion to the enclosed parts and therefore the issuingstream of air leaves the heater substantially horizontally. In case itis desired to deflect this issuing stream of air, deflectors may be usedin the same manner as described in connection with the form of theinvention shown in Fig. 2. It is also to be understood that a screensuch as shown at 55 can be attached to the heater of Fig. 2 in place ofthe deflectors there shown. I

It should be noted that the coil structure 41 and fan assembly 47 areboth inside of the casing proper so that no part protrudes or extendsthrough or outside of the air outlet. This means that the center ofgravity of the complete heater is maintained between the front and rearwalls of the casing and a general stable condition exists which allowsthe heater to stand without special bracing and attachment to walls orother fixed parts.

From the foregoin it will not only be apparent that a compfiate unitaryair heater has been devised having a heater and fan located at the sameside of a casing outlet but also a novel removable assembly has been in-100 vented. This assembl comprises an individual unit made up 0 a casingupon which are mounted the heater and fan. Thus the assembly becomes astock construction suitable for installation in the articular form 1 5of duct, here shown by way 0 example, or for other uses as the case maybe. It will, therefore, be seen that in the present instance thesupplemental casing with its attached heater and fan can be placed inthe casing 10 as a na unit and when attached thereto and connected to aheatin source is ready to function as required. T e supplemental casingis preferably attached to the main casing by spot welding the suitablemeans may be employed for the purose.

Having thus. described my invention, I claim: 4 I

1. An air heatin and circulating device 0 comprising in com ination amain casing having an inlet at the bottom and an opening at the top, asupplemental casing removably mounted in said main casing in juxtaposedrelation to said outlet and having openings in two opposite sides forthe passage of air to said outlet, a lurality of heater pipes arrangedtransverse y of said supplemental casing to interce t air passingtherethrough and a plurality 0 motor driven fans arranged parts togetherthough any other to circulate air throu b said main casing and dischargesaid air t rough said pipes and said outlet.

2. An air heating and circulating device comprising a main casing havingan inlet and an outlet, in combination with a unitary air heating andcirculating device consisting of a supplemental casing having an airinlet and an air outlet, a heater mounted in said supplemental casingbetween said inlet and said outlet, and a fan carried by said casing,and means to attach said supplemental caslng to said main casing withsaid supplemental air outlet juxtaposed With respect to said main casingoutlet.

Signed at Bridgeport, county of Montgomery, State of Pennsylvania, this9th day of May, 1929.

JOHN H. HOLTON.

